Spreading Christmas cheer

Wooden cutouts of the Peanuts characters and Santa getting a boost from his elves are some of the playful scenes at the Schirtzinger home on Blue Marlin Drive.

Pamela E. Walck

Cheryl, Rick and Amber Schirtzinger have been preparing and planning their outdoor Chirstmas light display since September. They make it a family affair by using Thanksgiving weekend, when the couple's four other children are in town, to set up the display and make all finishing touches.

The Schirtzinger family on Whitemarsh Island is practically glowing with holiday spirit.

Well, really, it's more like their yard and home that are ablaze with Christmas tidings.

Go past their house, on the corner of Jamaica Run and Marlin Bay Drive, and you'll see a nativity scene, a sled with reindeer, Santa Claus sneaking up the chimney holding presents, even a few a characters from the Peanuts comic strip. Outdoor speakers pump Christmas music into the nighttime air.

Walk up to knock on their front door, and expect to hear "Jingle Bells" blasting from an electric sign attached to the door.

This is how Rick Schirtzinger sees it: "Since we're going to have a huge electric bill anyway, might as well let as many people as possible know so they can come see it," he said.

Cheryl Schirtzinger said she expects the bill to be about as high as it was during the hottest summer months. But she says it's a small price to pay.

"We used to take our family out on Christmas Eve and we'd look for lights," she said. "The kids always liked doing that, so I decided that when we got older, we would do the same thing for someone else to enjoy."

The Schirtzingers started small at first, after relocating to Savannah from Canton, Ohio - a few lights here and there.

But over the last nine years they have consistently added to the display.

"I had to reinforce the rafters in the attic so we could hold everything," Rick Schirtzinger said. "Plus, I have racks above the garage door."

It takes about two days to set up the yard, but Cheryl Schirtzinger said she started planning the display back in September.

This year, it included getting her husband to cut out wooden patterns of Charlie Brown, Sally, Snoopy and Woodstock.

Then she'd crank the Christmas tunes and paint away. She even got her one of her daughters, Amber, in on the artistic action.

On Thanksgiving Day, the lights start going up, followed by the various "scenes." Rick Schirtzinger said by the end of the weekend, their yard is ready to roll.

Well, sort of.

"We kept blowing fuses, when we plugged everything in," he said of this year's display. "Now, we have everything on five different circuit breakers."

He said he practically has a mechanical engineering degree now.

"We got neighbors across the street who put some stuff out," Cheryl Schirtzinger said. "But I don't think people do it as much anymore."